GetLinx update application

Click here to download the latest version of the GetLinx application.

Purpose

The purpose of the tool is twofold:

• It allows you to manage a Linx installation on a computer that has limited or no internet access (the default setting is to pull the latest updates from the internet).
• It allows you to replicate a Linx environment across multiple machines (similar application and plugin versions).

By default, Linx updates (application and plugins) are retrieved from the internet.  This application will allow the user to create a local copy of all the necessary update files that can be copied and used in multiple places.  This in effect allows him to lock Linx to a specific version and have greater control about when updates will be installed.

Usage

GetLinx.exe is a command-line application that can be configured using several (optional) input parameters:

• -p: The base target folder where the plugin and installation packages will be saved.  If not specified, a new directory called “Feeds” will be created in the same directory that the application was launched from.  Two subdirectories, “App” and “Plugins” will be created inside this directory.
• -v: The name of a version manifest file that contains metadata about the application and plugins that must be downloaded.  If not specified, the latest version of the application and plugins will be retrieved.
• -i: The target folder where the application installer (exe) will be saved.  If not specified, a new directory called “Installer” will be created in the same directory that the application was launched from.
• -l: The path to a log file.  When the application is executed, it will write all of its output to the console, but it can be useful to log the output results to a log file for analysis.

Common usage scenarios:

• Pull all the latest updates and log the output:

GetLinx.exe –l “c:\temp\GetLinxLog.txt”

• Pull specific versions and log the output:

GetLinx.exe –v “c:\temp\GetTheseFiles.xml” –l “c:\temp\GetLinxLog.txt”

 

Version manifest file

The version manifest file is an XML file that contains metadata about the files (application and plugin) that must be retrieved.  This can for example allow the user to download only selected plugin files that are necessary in their environment.  The file can either be generated manually (see structure below) or downloaded from a preconfigured Linx Server by going to the Plugins page and clicking on the “Download Version Manifest” button.

The manifest file has the following structure:

• The installation element contains the version of the application to retrieve, e.g. “5.10.550.8839” in this case.  If the version is not specified, the latest released version will be retrieved.
• The plugins element contains a list of all the plugins to retrieve.  All plugin entries have a name and a version.  If the version is not specified, the latest compatible version will be retrieved.   If an incompatible version is specified, a warning will be logged.
• If no plugin entries are specified, all the latest compatible plugins will be retrieved.

 

Configuring Linx

Once the necessary files have been retrieved, you must configure your Linx installation to retrieve updates from a local path (and not the internet).  To do so, you need a Linx license that allows you to override the default repository settings.  Once you have installed the license, open a Linx designer and go to the settings window (File –> Settings).

• In the “Application update repository” field, enter the path where the application package was saved.  If you for example specified a target folder of “C:\GetLinx\Feeds” when running GetLinx.exe, the path will be “C:\GetLinx\Feeds\App”.
• In the “Plugin update repository” field, enter the path where the plugin packages were saved.  If you for example specified a target folder of “C:\GetLinx\Feeds” when running GetLinx.exe, the path will be “C:\GetLinx\Feeds\Plugins”.

If you now restart the Linx designer, it will retrieve updates from the local path.